Mail Mayhem: The Battle for the USPS!

Ladies and Gentlemen, BUYERS AND SELLERS, listen up! The USPS is under attack, and it's time to take action! This week, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) launched a national advertising campaign to alert the public about proposed plans to privatize the public postal service. The ad called “Memo” highlights a document sent by Wells Fargo Equity Research to investors detailing how proposed plans by the White House to privatize postal services would lead to the closing of local Post Offices, skyrocketing price hikes to send a letter or package, and an end to the “Universal Service Obligation” where mail is delivered six and sometimes seven times a week to 169 million addresses.

“THE WELLS FARGO MEMO SPELLS OUT WHAT IS BEING WHISPERED IN WASHINGTON,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “WALL STREET STANDS TO MAKE HUGE PROFITS IF ALL OR PARTS OF THE USPS ARE SOLD OFF, BUT THOSE WHO LIVE ON MAIN STREET WOULD HAVE LESS SERVICE AND HIGHER COSTS. THOSE WHO LIVE IN RURAL AREAS WOULD BE ESPECIALLY HARD HIT. IT ALSO WOULD BE DEVASTATING TO MANY SMALL BUSINESSES, THE TRILLION-DOLLAR ECOMMERCE INDUSTRY AND THREATEN THE ABILITY TO VOTE BY MAIL.”

In its report to investors, Wells Fargo says a privatized USPS would be forced to raise prices “30 to 140 percent across its product lines” and that many local Post Offices would be closed and the real estate sold so that “value can be harvested.” National Public Radio’s Midwest Newsroom in a lengthy investigative piece that aired on Tuesday, July 15, titled Privatize or downsize the USPS? Rural customers worry either option will hurt them, documented how a privatized postal service would be devastating to postal customers who live in rural communities.

ALSO, ON TUESDAY, DAVID P. STEINER BECAME THE 76TH POSTMASTER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES. STEINER, A CONTROVERSIAL PICK TO LEAD THE USPS, HAD, UNTIL RECENTLY, SERVED ON THE BOARD OF THE USPS’ COMPETITOR FEDEX. IN HIS FIRST-TERM PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, WHO CALLED THE USPS “A JOKE” PROPOSED PRIVATIZING THE USPS. IN THIS TERM HE HAS DISCUSSED BOTH PRIVATIZATION AND TRANSFERRING THE INDEPENDENT AGENCY TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. BEFORE LEAVING THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION THIS PAST SPRING, ELON MUSK SAID THAT PRIVATIZING THE PUBLIC POSTAL SERVICE WAS A PRIORITY.

“THE USPS IS A NATIONAL TREASURE,” said Dimondstein. “THIS MONTH MARKS THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS VITAL SERVICE. IT BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE. THE PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT’S AT STAKE AND SEND THE MESSAGE: THE U.S. MAIL IS NOT FOR SALE.”

DO NOT LET THESE PRIVATIZATION PLANS GO UNCHALLENGED! THE USPS IS A CRITICAL SERVICE THAT PROVIDES ESSENTIAL SERVICES TO MANY COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS. THE CLOSURE OF LOCAL POST OFFICES, INCREASED PRICES, AND REDUCED FREQUENCY OF MAIL DELIVERY COULD ALL NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE DISTRIBUTION OF MEDICINE AND VOTING BY MAIL, WHICH ARE CRITICAL SERVICES FOR MANY COMMUNITIES.

SO, WHAT CAN YOU DO? CALL APWU’S LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE AT 1-844-402-1001 TO BE CONNECTED TO YOUR SENATORS TODAY, AND URGE THEM TO COSPONSOR S. RES. 147, WHICH EXPRESSLY OPPOSES POSTAL PRIVATIZATION. DEFENDING THE PEOPLE’S PUBLIC POSTAL SERVICE FROM PRIVATIZATION IS OUR TOP PRIORITY IN 2025.